Mmmm....gravy....

It's the beginning of the holiday season, and while most of my friends and neighbors are eating turkey today, I'm abstaining. I've already taught so many Thanksgiving themed classes in the last few weeks, that I'm all turkeyed out. Instead, I'm treating myself to a lazy morning and one of my favorite breakfasts.

Growing up, we usually just had cereal for breakfast. It was fast, easy, we kids could get it ourselves as we got ourselves dressed and out the door to school in the morning. But during the holidays when we were off of school, my mom would often make breakfast for the family. One of our favorites was biscuits and gravy. Even now as adults, on the rare occasion when all of us are together for the holidays, at least one of our breakfasts together is biscuits and gravy.

Mom's recipe uses skim milk as the the base and cornstarch to thicken. (I make mine with a flour and butter roux and whole milk--much more indulgent but oh, so tasty.) Growing up, the gravy might have sausage mixed in or it might have hard boiled eggs. Yes, hard boiled eggs. I remember one time mentioning the eggs to a friend in culinary school, and you would have thought I'd grown a second head by her reaction. Trust me, it's delicious. The best version had both sausage and hard boiled eggs. 

This breakfast is the ultimate in comfort food. I hope you enjoy!

Sausage and Egg Gravy and Biscuits

Serves 6

For the gravy:

1 pound pork breakfast sausage

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

5 tablespoons all purpose flour

4 cups whole milk

6 hard boiled eggs, peeled and coarsely chopped

Kosher salt and black pepper

Place the sausage in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring and breaking up the sausage, until it is evenly browned and no longer pink. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the sausage to a paper towel lined plate.

Add the butter and flour to the saucepan. Using a whisk, stir and mix until the butter is completely melted and the flour is fully incorporated. When the mixture is rapidly bubbling, slowly pour in the milk, whisking to incorporate. When all the milk is incorporated, continue to cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the gravy thickens and just comes to the boil. Add the reserved sausage and chopped hard boiled eggs. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (This gravy LOVES black pepper, use a lot for best results.) Serve over split biscuits. 

Buttermilk Biscuits

Makes 12, 2-inch biscuits

2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¾ teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch cubes

4 tablespoons shortening

1 cup buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl; whisk until well blended. Using a pastry blender or a fork, cut in the shortening and butter until the mixture looks like coarse sand and the largest pieces of butter and shortening are smaller than peas. Stir in the buttermilk until well combined (the dough may be wet). Gather the dough into a ball. Press out on a lightly floured work surface (use more flour as necessary if dough is very sticky/wet) to about 1 inch thick. Using the desired cutter, cut out the biscuits. Gather the dough remnants together and flatten back into a 1 inch thick round, and cut again. Repeat until all the dough is used. Arrange the biscuits on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake until the biscuits are puffed and light golden and a tester inserted into centers comes out clean, about 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer the biscuits to towel-lined basket and serve warm.